MeritValue

VALUE LINE INC

VALUdata completeness 88%19 fiscal years on file

Data notes: no data for concept 'investmentsAtFairValue'; no data for concept 'netInvestmentIncome'; no data for concept 'gainsOnRealEstateSales'; no data for concept 'realEstateImpairment'; no data for concept 'interestExpense'; no data for concept 'pretaxIncome'

The thesis, from the filings

VALUE LINE INC earns about 23% on equity, far above its ~9% cost of capital, with a roughly flat share count — a real edge showing up in the numbers. The estimate methods put fair value between $22.48 and $31.22 a share.Whether it’s worth owning at today’s price is the last question — and yours to answer, below.

i. The business — what you’d actually own
FigureFY 2022FY 2023FY 2024FY 2025FY 2026
Revenue$40.5M1$39.7M2$37.5M3$35.1M3$33.4M3
Net income$23.8M4$18.1M5$19M6$20.7M6$21.6M6
Operating cash flow$24.6M7$18.2M8$17.9M9$20.2M9$18.6M9
Capital expenditure$11,00010$30,00011$15,00012$178,00012$012
Free cash flow (derived)$24.6M7$18.1M8$17.9M9$20.1M9$18.6M9
Total debt$013————
Cash & equivalents$29.7M14$7.59M15$4.39M16$34.1M16$24.2M16
Diluted shares9.5M9.5M9.4M9.4M9.4M

Superscripts are receipts. Each links to the SEC filing the number came from (full list at the bottom).

ii. Your slice — ownership made literal
If you owned
shares
Net assets behind them
$114.79
your share of equity
Profit it earned you last year
$23.01
Free cash flow it threw off
$19.77
Debt you’d be carrying
—

10 shares is a claim on $114.79 of net worth that earned you $23.01 and generated $19.77 of cash last year.

iii. Is this a good business?
Moat signal · return on equity
23% avg · 5y
FY22 30%FY23 22%FY24 21%FY25 21%FY26 20%

It earned about 23% on equity, year after year, against a ~9% cost of capital — the footprint of real pricing power. Competition usually drags returns like this back down; here it hasn't.

seeing a moat in the numbers →
Management signal · capital allocation
−2% shares · 5y

Share count is roughly flat over 5 years — little dilution, little buyback.

reading capital allocation →

Signals, not verdicts — read from the filings above. Numbers don’t prove a moat; they show its footprint. You decide.

iv. What it’s worth — engine v0.5.0

The 3 estimate methods that apply put fair value between $22.48 and $31.22 a share. They rest on different assumptions, so where they diverge is the story.

DCF · Growth Exit 10Y
$29.74
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.8%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears10
  • fcfGrowth0.8%
  • fcfBase$18.6M
DCF · Growth Exit 5Y
$31.22
assumptions (10)
  • riskFreeRate4.8%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • terminalGrowth2.5%
  • projectionYears5
  • fcfGrowth0.8%
  • fcfBase$18.6M
Earnings Power Value
$22.48
assumptions (8)
  • riskFreeRate4.8%
  • equityRiskPremium5.0%
  • beta100.0%
  • equityWeight85.0%
  • costOfDebtSpread1.5%
  • taxRate21.0%
  • normalizedEarnings$20.7M
  • growthAssumed0.0%
Graham Number
not applicable
diluted EPS missing or non-positive — Graham Number undefined

Different models answer different questions — which to trust when →

v. The price question — last, on purpose
Is today’s price fair?
See live price ↗
Type a price. The ledger answers.
Or set your own belief
FCF growth, next 5 years0.8%
Discount rate (WACC)9.07%
Terminal growth2.5%
At your growth, a share is worth $31.22
The three cases
Bear0.0%$30.25
Base0.8%$31.22
Bull5.8%$38.1

Bear/base/bull growth = 0% / filed history / history + 5pp. Type a price to see the return each case implies.

Default growth 0.8%= this company’s own filed history (median-to-median FCF CAGR, clamped 0–20%). Your adjustments are recorded anonymously. They become the “what do owners actually believe” dataset.

Sources — the receipts
  1. 10-K · period ending 2022-04-30 · accession 0001437749-24-023534 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  2. 10-K · period ending 2023-04-30 · accession 0001437749-25-023754 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  3. 10-K · period ending 2024-04-30 · accession 0001437749-26-024817 (RevenueFromContractWithCustomerIncludingAssessedTax)
  4. 10-K · period ending 2022-04-30 · accession 0001437749-24-023534 (NetIncomeLoss)
  5. 10-K · period ending 2023-04-30 · accession 0001437749-25-023754 (NetIncomeLoss)
  6. 10-K · period ending 2024-04-30 · accession 0001437749-26-024817 (NetIncomeLoss)
  7. 10-K · period ending 2022-04-30 · accession 0001437749-24-023534 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  8. 10-K · period ending 2023-04-30 · accession 0001437749-25-023754 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  9. 10-K · period ending 2024-04-30 · accession 0001437749-26-024817 (NetCashProvidedByUsedInOperatingActivities)
  10. 10-K · period ending 2022-04-30 · accession 0001437749-24-023534 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  11. 10-K · period ending 2023-04-30 · accession 0001437749-25-023754 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  12. 10-K · period ending 2024-04-30 · accession 0001437749-26-024817 (PaymentsToAcquirePropertyPlantAndEquipment)
  13. 10-K · period ending 2022-04-30 · accession 0001437749-22-017778 (LongTermDebtCurrent)
  14. 10-K · period ending 2022-04-30 · accession 0001437749-24-023534 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  15. 10-K · period ending 2023-04-30 · accession 0001437749-25-023754 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)
  16. 10-K · period ending 2024-04-30 · accession 0001437749-26-024817 (CashAndCashEquivalentsAtCarryingValue)